Butte County is a place of natural beauty with countless opportunities for recreation in both rural and urban environments. Many Butte County residents live in one of the five incorporated towns or cities: Biggs, Chico, Gridley, Oroville or Paradise. Butte County government provides services to residents through 23 diverse departments. Services include elections, road maintenance, public safety, solid waste disposal, and health and human services to name a few.

Butte County’s gross value for agricultural production in 2016 was $705,211,786 – representing a decrease of nearly 9 percent from the previous year ($772,639,884).

Walnuts (English), almonds, rice, and prunes led the way for 2016 crop values. Walnuts continued to be the number one crop that generated over $234 million in gross value. Almonds remained as the number two crop at $188 million. Rice remained the number three crop in the county at almost $123 million. Even though prune growers had poor pollination conditions in 2016, prunes remained number four at $31 million.

“Butte County farmers realized lower overall prices for their crops in 2016 compared to previous year’s values. It’s the main reason why our agriculture industry saw a 9 percent decrease. However, agriculture is still the number one industry in Butte County and contributes to our economy in the form of employment, labor income and value added”, said Butte County Agriculture Commissioner Louie Mendoza. “About one in five jobs in our area is attributed to agriculture”.

Butte County’s Agricultural impacts go far beyond the orchards, fields, farmers and farm workers. Each dollar earned within agriculture fuels a more vigorous economy by stimulating additional activity in the form of jobs, labor income and value added such as generating business in banking, marketing, transportation, and other services. The agriculture value chain accounts for nearly three million jobs in California1.

Butte County agriculture experienced an increase in 2016 of agricultural exports to other countries, from Australia to Vietnam, with 73 countries and 8 states importing Butte County agricultural products. Indications at this point are that the number of agricultural exports will continue to stay strong as products remain in demand.

The figures presented in this report are estimated gross values with no consideration of production costs and do not reflect net income to producers.
The 2016 Butte County Crop Report is available online at: www.buttecounty.net/agriculturalcommissioner